Windows NT Server version 4.0 includes an RFC-compliant Domain Name System (DNS) server. DNS servers are defined in RFCs 1034 and 1035.
DNS is a global, distributed database based on a hierarchical naming system. The naming system was developed to provide a method for uniquely identifying hosts (computers and other network devices) on the Internet and other TCP/IP networks. The root of the DNS database is managed by the Internet Network Information Center. The top-level domains are assigned by organization and by country.
The DNS name consists of two parts¾the domain name and the host name¾known together as the fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, using the fictional domain name of Terra Flora, an FQDN for a workstation in the nursery division could be: jeff.nursery.terraflora.com. Note that the DNS name can actually be multi-part with each part of the name separated by a period (.).
DNS uses a client/server model. The DNS name server contains information about a portion of the global DNS name space, such as a private intranet. Client computers can be configured to query the DNS server for host name-to-IP-address mapping as needed to connect to the Internet or an intranet TCP/IP network resource.
The Windows NT-based DNS server provides connectivity between WINS and DNS. In addition to providing an RFC-compliant DNS service, the Windows NT Server-based DNS server can pass through an unresolved DNS name query to a WINS server for final name resolution.
This occurs transparently and the client need not be aware of whether a DNS or WINS server processed the name query. In a Windows NT– based network running both DNS and WINS servers, you can perform forward look-up—which is IP address resolution by using a friendly (NetBIOS or DNS) name, and reverse look-up—which is (NetBIOS or DNS) name resolution by using an IP address.
WINS provides a dynamic, distributed database for registering and querying dynamic NetBIOS computer name-to-IP-address mappings. DNS provides a static, distributed database for registering and querying static FQDN name-to-IP-address mappings.
DNS depends on static files for name resolution and does not yet support dynamic updates of name and IP address mapping. In other words, DNS requires static configuration of IP addresses to perform name-to-IP-address mapping, WINS supports DHCP dynamic allocation of IP addresses and can resolve a NetBIOS computer name to a dynamic IP address mapping.
Note
Dynamic DNS is currently under discussion by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
For information about installing a Microsoft DNS server, see online Help. For information about configuration of the DNS server and using the DNS Manager, see online DNS Manager Help.
Note
Microsoft first included a Beta version of a DNS server for Windows NT 3.5x in the Windows NT 3.5x Resource Kits. You can upgrade the Beta version to Microsoft DNS server under Windows NT Server version 4.0. See the topic "To Upgrade a Windows NT 3.51 Resource Kit DNS Server" in Microsoft TCP/IP Help.
For additional information on DNS, see Chapter 9, "Managing Microsoft DNS Servers."